Widdershins - a podcast by Word of the Day

Widdershins is an adverb that means in a contrary direction.

Our word of the day is of German origin. It evolved from the word widersinnen (VEE der sin en) which means ‘against the way.’ In this case, the ‘way’ is clockwise, so widdershins first meant ‘counterclockwise.’ As it evolved through 16th century Scottish and eventually English, its meaning broadened a little into: ‘in a contrary direction.’

Harry has always been a contrarian. He seems to go through his daily life widdershins.

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